Elizabeth Delisi's Blog, page 10

N is for Names

When you start out writing a novel, the names of the characters are important. That's how the reader will come to know the characters first, by name. So you want to choose an appropriate name for each.

How do you do this? I have been known to use a baby name book and find names with a meaning that resonated with the character. Now it's easy enough to find baby naming books on the internet. For example: Here 
If you're not concerned with the meaning of names but rather with the sound, flip through a telephone directory. This can be a good resource for last names, especially.

Or, you could try with Tarot! Today's Tarot deck is the Wild Wood Tarot. Here are a couple of sample cards from the deck.

 
  Images courtesy of Aeclectic Tarothttp://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/wildwood/ 
The card I drew for this question of names is the Two of Bows: Decision. I could go two ways with this card. I could take it literally, and name my character "Beau" due to it being the Two of Bows. Or the meaning of the card, the door is open and it's time to take action, could lead me to a search on those baby name sites. I searched here  for a boy name meaning active or taking action and came up with a Serbian name, Dejan. Not sure how it's pronounced in Serbian, but I like it. Try the Tarot and see what you come up with!

M is for Moral

You'll find as you read that some books have a clear message or moral to impart. If done delicately, the moral will get through to the reader without him knowing it has happened. This is the ideal way to get your message across; no one wants to be pounded over the head with platitudes and commands. But it's easier said than done, of course. So how do you put a message in your book without being obvious? Let's ask the Tarot!

Today's Tarot deck is The Gilded Tarot. Here are a couple of sample cards from the deck:

 
 
Images courtesy of Aeclectic Tarothttp://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/gilded/ 
I asked how I'd need to structure and write my book in order to get my message across without being obvious; how I could do it with subtlety. The card I drew is the King of Swords.
This card tells me I have the intelligence and confidence to write a book to get across my message. So when I write, I have to feel comfortable sharing my beliefs. But I must be careful not to come across as a snob. I have to give others credit for being intelligent also, rather than assuming they need the message spelled out to them in single-syllable words. If I speak to them on an equal level, they'll understand my message without any pain.

Guest Author Kim MacMahill

Today's guest author is Kim MacMahill, author of A TASTE OF TRAGEDY. Welcome, Kim!



Tell us a little about yourself, Kim, and what inspired you to become a writer.
I grew up in Wyoming, which is probably where I developed my sense of adventure and love of the outdoors. I started out writing non-fiction, but my love for exotic world travel, outrageous adventures, stories of survival, and happily-ever-after endings soon drew me into a world of romantic suspense. Along with writing adventure novels I’ve also published over eighty travel and geographic articles, and contributed to a travel anthology and cookbook. I’ve recently relocated to Colorado, which I’m very excited about. Not only am I right next door to my home state and much of my family, I’m back in my beloved Rocky Mountains. When I’m not writing, I enjoy gardening, traveling, hiking, and cheering on the Wyoming Cowboys and Denver Broncos
Tell us what A Taste of Tragedy is about.
A Taste of Tragedy is the second novel in the Risky Research Series. In the first novel, A Dose of Danger, a researcher and her team believe they had discovered a miracle weight loss pill, which makes them the targets of a deadly group intent on controlling the multi-billion dollar-a-year diet product industry.  In A Taste of Tragedy, a company uses and promotes a potentially deadly sweetener in its Healthy and Delicious Foods line. The product turns the company into a global powerhouse, but when their newest vice president uncovers evidence that the healthy foods she’s been hired to promote may be dangerous, she is forced to reevaluate her priorities and seek help from the man she pushed away, but never stopped loving.
If you were casting the movie version of A Taste of Tragedy, who would you choose for the leading roles?Morgan Hunter could be played by an older version of Nina Dobrev, and I could picture Katee Sackhoff in the role of Devyn.
Tell us about a hidden talent you have that most people don’t know about.I can grow tomatoes, even when nothing else grows.  No matter where I’ve lived or what variety I plant, I usually produce enough to eat fresh all summer, give away to friends and neighbors, and freeze enough to get me through the entire winter.Are you an outliner or do you write by the seat of your pants?I’m a little of both, and the degree of each depends on the story. Shrouded In Secrets had so many complex scenarios to keep track of that I had note cards and maps pinned to a cork board and a fairly detailed chapter-by-chapter outline. I always keep a running chapter-by-chapter cheat sheet at a minimum, but if the story is flowing, I just let it go and see where I end up.
If you weren’t a writer, what would you be?I’ve spent most of my adult life working for the National Park Service. It’s given me the opportunity to live and work in some amazing places. I can’t imagine doing anything other than writing and working for the Park Service.
What’s your favorite season and why?Definitely summer because I love to be warm and I like long days with a lot of sunshine.
What’s your favorite comfort food?My husband makes killer homemade baked macaroni and cheese. If you’ve only had mac and cheese out of a box, you have no idea what you’re missing.
Tell us about anyone famous you’ve met.I guess I don’t hang out in the right circles for meeting famous people. I have met quite a few professional tennis players at the U.S. Open and other tournaments.  Probably the most famous writer I’ve met is Craig Johnson, author of the Longmire series which spawned the television series of the same name. I helped organize a writers’ conference a number of years ago in South Dakota and Craig was our key note speaker.
What’s your favorite non-writing-related website?I’m a travel junkie, so I have a lot of travel related website bookmarked and I visit them all regularly and dream.
BlurbMorgan Hunter sacrificed everything for her career. She had yet to encounter anything she wasn’t willing to do to succeed...until now. When she uncovers evidence that the healthy foods she’s been hired to promote may be dangerous, she must reevaluate her priorities. As questions mount and the body count rises, she finds herself caught in the crosshairs of an organization that will stop at nothing to hide its secrets and protect its profits. With no one else to trust, Morgan is forced to seek help from the man she drove away, but whom she never stopped loving.
Excerpt“Here, let me help you,” Morgan said as she draped Devyn’s arm around her shoulders.Morgan tried to relieve as much weight as she could from Devyn as she helped her hobble to the waiting vehicle. Once Devyn was seated in the cramped back seat, Morgan dug out her emergency supply bag. She handed Devyn a blanket and a bottle of water. “I have a first aid kit, but I think you need something a little more than a bandage.”“It’s just a few scratches. I’ll live.”Morgan could see why Nick trusted Devyn with his back. As she looked at the battered and bruised woman, who had taken off into the desert in the middle of the night in bare feet to prevent a criminal from getting away, she had to admire her. Devyn had to be in extreme pain, yet not a complaint escaped her lips.“Make room in the back,” Nick huffed.Morgan looked up to see Nick trudging toward her with an inert man slung over his shoulder. She raced to the tiny back cargo area and moved a few items around so Nick could squeeze the body in the vehicle.“Is he dead?” Morgan whispered.“Not quite, but we need to get him medical help A.S.A.P. The bullet didn’t hit any vital organs, but I’m not sure how much damage he suffered from the knock to the head” Morgan watched as Nick set the man down in the vehicle, and then she joined Devyn in the back seat. Turning around and kneeling, she was able to lean over the seat and assess his injuries. She folded up a handkerchief and placed it over the gunshot wound and applied pressure. She wasn’t sure which was bleeding more, the bullet hole or the bump and cut to the head, but she had to try and slow the blood loss any way she could.“That’s all we can do for now,” Nick said. “Just keep the pressure on the best you can.” Morgan nodded as Nick secured the back and then got behind the wheel. “You okay?” Nick asked as he turned to face Devyn.“I’ve had better days, but sadly, I’ve had worse.”
Buy Link:    http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DTE29U2/Social Media Links:Website: http://KimMcMahill.comBlog: http://KimMcMahill.blogspot.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/kimmcmahill

L is for Listen to Your Prose

L is for Listen to Your Prose. In other words, read it out loud to yourself. It's amazing how many mistakes you can find this way, awkward phrasing, unbelievable dialogue, purple prose, and more. You can even have someone else read your material to you, so you hear what it's like without being distracted by the actual written words.

Today's Tarot deck is Legacy of the Divine Tarot. Here are a couple of sample cards from the deck:

 
 Images courtesy of Aeclectic Tarothttp://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/...
I asked the cards what part of my manuscript am I most likely to have to rephrase after reading it aloud. The card I drew is the Three of Coins. Amazingly enough, that particular card is available from Aeclectic Tarot, so here it is:
 
This card indicates hard work, skill, patience to do the job right. The man on the card is thoroughly absorbed in his work, focusing only on it and nothing else. I feel this card is telling me when I focus so deeply on my writing that the world could end and I wouldn't notice, this is when I'm most likely to write passages that don't come off well in the real world. A few big words and flowery phrases go a long way. Prose should include real life, not just high-flown phrases.

Guest Author Mari Manning

Please help me welcome today's guest blogger, romantic suspense author Mari Manning. Mari is going to tell us about her book STRANGER AT MY DOOR, and as a special treat, the two main characters of STRANGER AT MY DOOR, Dinah Pittman and Rafe Morales, will answer interview questions. Fun!

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Stranger at My DoorA new romantic suspense by Mari Manning
The only thing standing between her and disaster is a man she can’t trust …
As far as Dinah Pittman is concerned, men can’t be trusted. Especially cops. Her own father was a cop and a convicted felon who stole a small fortune before dying in prison. The best part? No one knows where the money is…and someone is willing to kill off everyone who knows anything about it.
And Dinah is next.
Rafe Morales left the Dallas police force to settle down to a simpler life in the small Texas town of El Royo. Instead, he finds himself protecting an infuriating, tough-as-nails, oh-so-sexy victim—and driving himself crazy with a thoroughly unprofessional desire.
But as the body count rises, Rafe and Dinah must find a way to trust each other…before they both end up dead.
An interview with Dinah Pittman, heroine of Stranger at My Door
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in a small town in Texas. I’ll tell you the name, but it doesn’t matter since no one’s ever heard of it. It’s El Royo. For the first 17 years of my life, I loved it, then a crime destroyed my family, and I couldn’t get away fast enough.
When is your birthday?
I’m 25, so you do the math. I was born on November 1, and my mother, who believed in the stars, painted the night sky at it appeared the day I was born on the ceiling of my bedroom.
What would you do if you won the lottery?
Pay back the money my father stole.
An interview with Rafe Morales, hero of Stranger at My Door
Where did you grow up?
I grew up on Hacienda Osito, which means Little Bear Ranch in Spanish.
Worst fear or nightmare?
I’ve lived through my worst fear – I watched someone I love die before my eyes. Something broke in me that night. Most people call it my nerve. My mother swears it’s my alma, which means soul. Whatever it is, I hope it mends, but I don’t believe I will ever be whole again.



An excerpt from Stranger at My Door:The front door rebounded and clipped Rafe’s shoulder. He kicked it closed with his boot before raking his flashlight beam across the unlit entryway. The hall was clear. His heart thumping against ribs, he burst into the living room. His light hit the figure of a woman, and his feet froze. He tilted the beam up and framed Dinah Pittman’s expressionless face. Most girls would have screamed or hid when he kicked in the door. Not this one. She had balls, he’d give her that.  Her forearm lifted to shield her eyes from the light. “Who are you? What do you want?” She sounded tired. “I already told Teke, I don’t know where the money is.”  Rafe lowered the flashlight and rolled his shoulder to loosen a tight muscle. There were about two dozen abandoned bungalows in this part of town. When he saw a candle flickering in the window, he’d expected a confrontation with teenagers or maybe a squatter.He stepped into the candlelight. “Officer Morales, ma’am. Got something against electricity?” As soon as the words were out, he regretted them. The pink flyers. She’d needed money to turn on the lights.Her mouth tightened. “Get out.” Turning to a small table by the window, she gathered up scattered cards, probably her tarot cards. Had she found customers already? He studied her as he summoned up an appropriate apology. She wore cut-offs and a white T-shirt. His eyes swept down her slim legs to her bare feet and red toenails before he could stop himself. Why were pain-in-the-ass women always hot? “I didn’t mean to upset you—”“Don’t flatter yourself.”“That’s tough to do with you around.”Her hand stilled for a moment, then returned to its task. “You could have knocked.”“Sometimes we get squatters in these abandoned houses. They’re more likely to be discouraged by a show of force.”“I could have been a mass murderer. Aren’t you supposed to call for backup?” She glanced down at his flashlight. “If I was a bad guy with a gun, you’d be dead, Officer Morales.”“Rafe.” She’d read him right. He’d tried to pull out his service revolver when he broke down the door, but—predictably—his hand had turned to Jell-O. After two years, he still couldn’t get past the night in Dallas when his beautiful, daring Sam’s luck ran out, and he’d avenged her but failed to live up to his own lofty ideals. So he relied on the element of surprise and big fists. Gathering up the cards, she set them in a neat stack. “As you can see, I am not a squatter.” Her gaze flickered to his flashlight, then back up to his face. “There’s an empty house about two blocks down if you’re determined to rescue one.”The corner of his mouth inched up. She’d be a handful…for the right man, which sure as hell wasn’t him. Not anymore. “Thanks for the tip.”
About Mari Manning Let’s start with the fun stuff. I love small towns, mysteries, quiet men, laughter, old-fashioned spaghetti dinners. I love boots and shopping and jokes and Hershey’s dark chocolate and white wine. I love lots of things. But my first love is reading. 
I love to read. Just about anything, but it has to be well-written. I go through periods where I am into historical novels or romance or mystery or history or biography. I never know when my desires will suddenly change.
Now for the writer-ish, official stuff: Mari Manning is the author of several contemporary romances and three romantic suspense novels set in the Texas Hill Country. Stranger at My Door is the first in her A Murder in Teas series. The second, Stranger in My House will be published by Entangled later this year. The third book in the series is Stranger in My Bed. Currently Mari is working on a series of cozy mysteries.
She and her husband live in Chicago.
Buy links to all the major electronic sites are here: http://www.entangledpublishing.com/stranger-at-my-door/Contact Mari at manningillinois@gmail.com
Visit my website at www.marimanning.comFollow me @mari_manning on Twitter

K is for Kill Your Darlings

A common bit of advice to new writers is to "kill your darlings." In other words, when you have a piece of writing you think is the most amazing, most beautiful thing you've ever written, cut it out and discard it. Because if you think it's that much over-the-top gorgeous, it's probably not. :-D

Today's tarot deck is the Witches Tarot. Here are a couple of sample cards:

 
 
Images courtesy of Aeclectic Tarothttp://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/witches-dugan/
I asked the tarot what element of my writing was most likely to be over-the-top and need to be toned down, revised or eliminated. The card I drew was the Ten of Pentacles.
This card is one of the best for showing happiness in family and friends, financial affairs, home and hearth, and job success. Therefore, I'd interpret this to mean that when I write the HEA (happily ever after) ending, I tend to go overboard and make things *too* perfect. I need to make sure the ending is happy but not saccharine. Believably joyous. And of course, identifiable to the reader.
What "darling" in your writing do you need to cut?

J is for Journal

J is a tough letter. But "journal" is something that works well for writers, so it's J for Journal.

A journal is like a diary in that you write in it regularly, write about things that happen to you, your thoughts and feelings. A diary is more personal, though, and unless you're too tightly wound, you don't go back to edit your entries! At least I don't.

A journal is more than just a place to list the things you did on any particular day. It allows you to express your deepest feelings, fears, joys, philosophies. And the best part of journaling is, if you do it regularly, you will get into the habit of writing daily without forcing yourself. Not to mention, your journal entries might suggest a new plot!

Today's tarot deck is the Fantastical Creatures Tarot. Here are a couple of sample cards from the deck:

 
 
Images courtesy of Aeclectic Tarothttp://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/fantastical-creatures/ 
The card I drew today is the Three of Swords. It shows a swamp, with a scary-looking creature, "Jenny Greenteeth," crawling out of that swamp. This card indicates heartache, sorrow, loss. It can also mean separation from a loved one. But it also indicates the path to letting go of pain and losses, and moving on.
I'd interpret this to mean you should use your journal for things that are deeply meaningful for you. Not the simple, "I went to the mall today" type of entry. You should write about things that put your insides in a knot, that make you cry, because those are the stories that will tug at the readers' heartstrings, will create a story the reader can't put down.

I is for Imagination

An imagination could be said to be the most important quality a writer must have. If you can't come up with ideas for plot, setting and characters, you won't get beyond typing "My New Novel" by Jane Doe on your first page.

But how do you get your imagination to fire up when and where you want? Here are some thoughts:


Go to a place with lots of people–a mall, a busy restaurant, a sporting event. Surreptitiously listen to the conversations around you. You’ll hear lots of interesting things that, taken out of context, could mean something totally different than what the speaker intended. Those isolated phrases may spark a story idea. 


Take a drive through an unfamiliar neighborhood. Study the houses. Are they well taken care of or falling apart? Lots of windows, or shuttered up and gloomy?  Are the cars new and shiny, or broken down? Are the yards full of junk and overgrown, or cluttered with children’s toys? What kind of people do you think live in those houses, and how did they come to be where they are in life? 

Watch the first fifteen minutes of an hour-long television show, or the first half hour of a movie. Then, turn it off. Get out your notebook and write the rest of the story yourself. 


Read through the Sunday paper. Check out everything–not just the articles. Read the wedding announcements, obituaries, job listings, even the ads. How did the farmer from Oklahoma meet the stockbroker from New York, much less marry her? What kind of person would apply for a job as prison guard? Why did a wealthy man with lots of heirs leave all his money to a bird sanctuary?   

Cut out pictures from magazine of people who intrigue you. Not movie stars; choose people you don’t recognize. Now, imagine they are all connected in some way. Are they family...friends...enemies...co-workers...co-conspirators? Weave them all into a story.

These are just a few ideas you can try to come up with plots. Using tarot is, of course, another way! So today, I'm going to look for plot ideas via tarot cards.
Today's deck is the Arthurian Tarot. Here are a couple of sample cards from the deck:

  Images courtesy of Aeclectic Tarothttp://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/arthurian/ 
The card I drew today for a possible plot idea is The Sleeping Lord. It shows an image of King Arthur sleeping, on the stony face of a hill. Supposedly, Arthur can be awakened during times of great need in Britain.
This card indicates to me that the main character in a new novel will have left his home town, family and friends, for what he considered greener pastures. But an emergency has arisen that requires he return home. As he deals with whatever the crisis is, he will have to find it within himself to forgive all those who wronged him in the past, so he can recover, heal his heart and begin again.

Creativity and Romance Courses Available

I'll be teaching two upcoming courses at Writer's Digest University.
04/21/2016 - 06/16/2016 Creativity & Expression https://www.writersonlineworkshops.co...
Are you a beginner writer? Do you want to put pen to paper but have a case of writer’s block? Learn creative writing techniques to launch your writing and transform your ideas into your next story.
When you take this online workshop, you’ll explore creative writing topics and learn how descriptive writing can breathe life into your characters, setting, and plot with Rebecca McClanahan’s Word Painting. Stretch your imagination, develop your creative writing skills, and express your creativity with this writing workshop.
04/28/2016 - 06/09/2016 Writing the Romance Novel https://www.writersonlineworkshops.co...
Do you yearn to write a romantic story? If so, you need to know what sets romance writing apart from other types of fiction.
This course explores why romance is the same, yet different. Some essential components of romance are unique to the genre, while some romance requirements are identical to those of any good fiction story. Neither Stephen King nor Tom Clancy could sit down and write a romance unless he first familiarized himself with the specific factors that create a successful romance.
This workshop will help you to understand those specific factors that make up the specialized world of romantic fiction.
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Check them out!

H is for Hero and Heroine

I'm doing a "double" today for H, as I didn't want to choose between the hero and the heroine. These two people are the best, most important way to pull your reader into the story. The reader needs to identify with the hero or heroine, living the book vicariously through him or her. So it's important the two are written believably.

You don't want your hero and heroine to be perfect...because if they are, there's no story. But you don't want to give them too many faults, and certainly not a fault that would antagonize the reader!

Perhaps now is a good time to say, the tarot deck of the day is a randomly chosen deck from my collection. I don't try to match the deck to the letter of the alphabet, just choose the next one in line.

Today's tarot deck is the Deviant Moon Tarot. Here are a couple of sample cards from the deck. Wild, eh?
 Images courtesy of Aeclectic Tarothttp://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/deviant-moon/ 
The card I drew for the hero, with all his strengths and weaknesses, is The Hierophant. In general, this card indicates study and good advice, but also conformity. This tells me the hero is a good man, smart, but he is so concerned with being in control of his life that he's willing to conform to the norm, society's standard, in order to be in charge. He needs to listen to the divine, the little voice deep inside that urges him to break out of his mold and experience life with all its uncertainties.
The card I drew for the heroine is The Star. This is a lovely card, and I'm happy this one came up for her. This tells me the heroine has faith and hope...she has an optimistic nature and believes in all good things. The smallest thing can make her smile. Just as the hero must be in control to feel comfortable, the heroine is willing and able to allow things to take place at their own speed and in their own fashion.